Board reprimands Oregon teacher for licking students' wounds

BEND, Ore. – A state board voted to publicly reprimand a Central Linn High School teacher and football coach for licking the bleeding wounds of several student athletes.

The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission Wednesday placed Scott Reed on two years' probation.

Details of the case and censure will go on the commission Web site and be sent to all Oregon school districts and to departments of education nationwide.

Reed must attend a class on the risks of blood-borne pathogens within the next two months and furnish the commission with written verification of his attendance.

Reed agreed to "stipulated facts" that included him licking blood from wounds on a track team member's knee, a football player's arm, and a high school student's hand.

It was not clear why he licked the wounds.

The Linn County Sheriff's Office investigated the case last year. No charges were filed. Sheriff Dave Burright called the behavior "bizarre" but not criminal, since the contact wasn't forced.

Two students who reported licking incidents and another who witnessed an incident said it seemed that Reed was "just joking around."

Reed, a science teacher, resigned this spring as a track coach but remains the school's dean of students and head football coach.

The state sanctions virtually duplicated those imposed by the school district.

In a separate case on Wednesday, the commission sanctioned Max Harrell, the Central Linn superintendent, for gross neglect of duty. He also will receive a public reprimand and two years' probation.

Harrell's stipulated agreement revealed that he was disciplined for two matters. He employed former Idaho colleague Ed Sansom as a district principal before Sansom had obtained an Oregon administrative certificate.

He also allowed an uncertified teacher, Anthony Cherry, hired by Harrell's predecessor, to continue teaching a middle school video and drama class at Central Linn Middle School. Cherry was later convicted of child sexual abuse.

Harrell is in a California hospital after back surgery and could not be reached for comment.

He said earlier that the district had a past practice of temporarily honoring credentials from other states while administrators await Oregon certification.

He also said he had directed his staff to assign another teacher as the "teacher of record" for Cherry's class, though that did not occur.

Reed and Harrell were among five current or recent Central Linn educators investigated by the commission over the past year. Three, including Harrell, were targeted by Caring Citizens for Kids and Community, a group of district residents upset with the administration.